Greece in 2008

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Throughout 2008 the government of Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos (Kostas) Karamanlis was shaken by a series of scandals that undermined the ruling New Democracy (ND) party’s public standing and led to dissatisfaction within the ND, including among prominent politicians. The suicide attempt in late December 2007 of former Culture Ministry secretary-general Christos Zachopoulos stayed in the news in the early months of 2008. Zachopoulos had tried to commit suicide after allegedly being blackmailed by his former assistant Evi Tsekou over their extramarital affair. The prime minister’s office and a newspaper had received copies of incriminating video footage. There were also accusations by prosecutors that Zachopoulos had let a number of illegal deals go through that allowed protected archaeological sites to be developed. Tsekou and several others were arrested but were later released on bail.

Young people riot in the centre of Athens in December 2008 following the fatal shooting of a …

Petros Giannakouris/AP

In the context of the bribery scandal surrounding German electronics giant Siemens, evidence suggested that over a 17-year period the German company paid more than €100 million (€1 = about $1.40) in bribes to secure Greek state contracts. During a trial in Munich, a former Siemens executive testified that Greek politicians and senior executives received an 8% commission on such deals. In addition, documents suggested that Siemens had paid the two main parties some €17 million between 1998 and 2005.

On September 12, Merchant Marine Minister Georgios Voulgarakis resigned and was succeeded by Anastasios Papaligouras. Voulgarakis had come under pressure for co-owning with his wife—and during his tenure as a government minister—at least two real-estate companies that were transferred offshore and for having appointed the manager of one of them head of the Seamen’s Pension Fund. His wife was also the notary in a controversial land exchange between the state and the Vatopedi monastery. In this and other land deals between the two sides, the monastery’s land was apparently overvalued while the state land was undervalued. In September the monastery’s assets were frozen, and one of the deals was revoked. Two deputy prosecutors investigating the land deal resigned on October 14, claiming that their work was hampered by superiors, but their resignations were not accepted. On October 22 the parliament unanimously voted to set up an inquiry commission to investigate the deal. Theodoros Roussopoulos, a minister of state and the government spokesman, resigned the following day, saying that he wanted to be free to fight allegations of corruption. On December 15 the parliamentary parties presented separate reports on the inquiry.

The killing of a 15-year-old boy, Alexandros Grigoropoulos, by a police officer in central Athens on the evening of December 6 triggered the worst riots in decades in Athens and other cities, which lasted for several weeks and caused considerable damage to property. The police officer who fired the shots was charged with murder, and a fellow officer was charged as an accomplice.

In March the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) held its eighth party congress. Following the congress, many leading politicians were dropped from PASOK’s Political Council, including Evangelos Venizelos and Kostas Skandalidis, who had challenged the party chairman, Georgios Papandreou, in the 2007 leadership vote. Ioannis Ragoussis was elected the new party secretary. At the party congress of the Coalition of the Radical Left, 33-year-old Alexis Tsipras was elected its new chairman on February 10; he succeeded Alekos Alavanos, who did not seek reelection.

In January, Karamanlis became the first Greek prime minister since 1959 to pay an official visit to Turkey, where both sides pledged to “open a new page” in their relations. Foreign policy was dominated, however, by the ongoing dispute with Macedonia over that country’s name. Before the NATO summit in Bucharest, Rom., in April, intense negotiations failed to produce results, and Greece was prompted to veto Macedonia’s accession to NATO. Talks later in the year were characterized by both sides’ immobility, with Macedonia also trying to raise issues of language, ethnicity, and the restitution of property of Greek Civil War refugees.

The Greek economy continued to improve, although at a slower pace than in previous years. GDP growth was expected to drop below 3%, with inflation climbing toward 5%. The budget deficit was expected to remain just below 3%. In March the government pushed through Parliament a pension-reform package that was strongly opposed by the opposition and by trade unions, which staged large-scale strikes. A no-confidence vote tabled in connection with the reforms was rejected. In August the government approved new measures aimed at curbing tax evasion. Under this legislation self-employed people would pay a 10% tax on the first €10,500 of their income, which was previously exempt from taxation.

On September 17 the European Commission agreed to a government plan under which ailing Olympic Airlines would repay old debts, be broken up into three entities, and be privatized. Under this plan a new company called Pantheon would take over the flight services but would be able to keep the Olympic name and logo.

Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos died on January 28 at the age of 69. On February 7 the Holy Synod elected Metropolitan Ieronymos of Thebes as his successor. Ieronymos pledged to avoid interfering in politics and to improve relations with the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

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